Just like real high school seniors must graduate, so must certain members of the Glee cast. As of now, it’s Chri...

Just like real high school seniors must graduate, so must certain members of the Glee cast. As of now, it’s Chris Colfer, Lea Michele and Cory Monteith who have gotten the boot from showrunner Ryan Murphy.

In an interview with the Hollywood Reporter, Murphy told them that it was a decision that involved Lea and Chris, as well as co-creators Brad Falchuk and Ian Brennan, and that the show’s new writers like the idea. The next season will include talk of colleges and more parental involvement, so to ease into the transition of high school graduation.

However, it’s not only the trio that won’t be coming back for season four. Murphy said, “most characters are leaving than are staying,” though those characters have yet to be named.

Regarding his motivation for having such important characters graduate, Murphy said, “You can keep them on the show for six years and people will criticize you for not being realistic, or you can be really true to life and say when they started the show they were very clearly sophomores and they should graduate at the end of their senior year.” Chris Colfer, who plays the character of Kurt, told MetroWeekly that he understood Murphy’s thinking: "Do I want to leave the show? Absolutely not. This is home for me. But I understand that there's time for a conclusion."